Tunnel inspection with drones
Introduction
H-Aero (correctly spelled: H-AERO) is an electric aircraft from the startup company called Hybrid-Airplane GmbH,[1] based in Baden-Baden, which is designed as a hybrid aircraft. It is distinguished from conventional aircraft of this type by its additional vertical takeoff capability.[2].
History
The prototype, H-Aero One, which can obtain its propulsion energy entirely from renewable energy sources using solar cells, was first presented at the ILA (International Aerospace Exhibition) in Berlin from June 1 to 4, 2016.[3][4] The patent-protected flying object was developed by Csaba Singer in cooperation with the University of Stuttgart.[5]Dr.-Ing. Csaba Singer studied aerospace engineering at the University of Stuttgart. After graduation, he received his doctorate at the German Aerospace Center in the context of renewable energy technologies.[6] The hybrid aircraft is supported by EXIST (funding program), an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy.[7] In June 2012, the NASA congressional committee "Concepts and Approaches to Mars Exploration" [8] evaluated the concept among others as an alternative possibility to carry out the exploration of Mars from a bird's eye view and invited Singer to Houston to present the concept. The production-ready H-Aero One product was presented at U.T.SEC - Unmanned Technologies & Security, the Exhibition Center in Nuremberg, from March 2 to 3, 2017.[9] H-Aero One flew publicly for the first time at CeBIT 2017 in Hannover.[10]As the "fourth sustainable flight concept", H-Aero convinces the jury of the Ministry of Economy, Labor and Housing of Baden-Württemberg and awards Hybrid-Airplane Technologies the Innovation Award in Stuttgart, 2019.[11]
In October 2020, a jury of experts from the fields of business, science, society and politics chose the competition motto "Intelligence in motion: Together. Connected. Mobiles." selected the h-aero as one of the finalists and awarded it the German Mobility Award.[12][13].
Construction
The aircraft combines static and dynamic surveying and is configured either mirror symmetrically or rotationally symmetrically, thus utilizing the functionality of balloons, airplanes and helicopters. It has a gas cell and two wings with a symmetrical wing profile that can rotate through 180°, each with an electric motor at the wingtip. As is customary in balloons, the static lift vector (carrying gas) and the payload weight vector, including batteries, are arranged opposite each other. The envelope is not cigar-shaped, but is symmetrical in rotation, similar to a Frisbee disc.